Science, Craft and an Odd Bird

Sunday Song: Paul Halley’s “Winter”

01/27/2013

Heard here backing a fantastic little animation, “the Maker”.

It’s funny, because at the beginning you think the rabbitbeastie is trying to manufacture a girlfriend, because that’s how these stories go; insert Bride-of-Frankenstein pseudoromance here and maybe that’ll make it seem meaningful. Romance, while awesome, is also like refined sugar: the fastest way to make a story tasty without necessarily adding anything more nutritious than empty calories.

I sound cynical, sure, but romance really hasn’t been doing it for me lately in storytelling- a lot of the time, it’s used as a shortcut for character development or individual motivation or, y’know, plot. Boy gets girl (heteronormative much?), or slays dragon to get girl, or overcomes challenges to get girl, or makes girl. Girl is reward. Story is simple. Zzzzz.

But that’s not what our bunnymonster doing. It can’t do that. It doesn’t have the time, and it knows it. All it’s trying to do is make something that will continue on after it. And that? I get that.